Life is almost back to normal in Melbourne, Australia.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

https://www.vox.com/2020/12/4/22151242/melbourne-victoria-australia-covid-19-cases-lockdown
How Melbourne eradicated Covid-19
Life is almost back to normal in Melbourne, Australia. Here’s how they did it.
By Dylan Scott

In July and August, the Australian state of Victoria was going through a second Covid-19 wave. Local leaders set an improbable goal in the face of that challenge. They didn’t want to just get their Covid-19 numbers down. They wanted to eliminate the virus entirely.

By the end of November, they’d done it.

They have seen no active cases for a full four weeks. Melbourne, the state’s capital and a city with about as many people as the greater Washington, DC, area, is now completely coronavirus-free.

Australia enjoyed plenty of advantages over the United States in containing Covid-19. It has no land borders to speak of. Its population density is very low (though the population is concentrated on the coasts). Its outbreak never got nearly as bad as the US’s did. On its worst days, Victoria saw about 700 new cases; Missouri, with (very roughly) a similar population and landmass, is currently averaging more than 3,000. Some of the Australian states also closed their borders to the others, which lowered the risk somebody might bring Covid-19 from one part of the country to another.

But the Australian epidemic has also mirrored America’s in important ways. Once the coronavirus arrived in the spring, the country went into lockdown. When cases abated, some of those restrictions were eased — and, before too long, Covid-19 cases were spiking again. Each state was responsible for its own response, with the federal government playing an advisory role outside of obviously national issues like foreign travel.

[Cha]

1. Wow.. Mahalo for this, Hermit! My

grandson & his girlfriend go to school & work in Melbourne.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. Imagine if we had sanity instead of the Republican death cult!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. kick, as a reminder of what we might have done if not for the insanity

[canetoad]

4. Thanks for posting Hermit

Today marks 38 consecutive days without a Covid-19 case or death in Victoria.

It's been a tough time; I'm about 150kms from Melbourne and didn't go through the curfew and 5km travel limit as the city did, but we still did it hard.

People, in general have been fantastic. A couple of exceptions, and a few libertarian type idiots protesting the lockdown. They were arrested and heavily fined.

First international flight arrived this morning; passengers will go into strict quarantine.

Our state Premier, Dan Andrews has been a tower of strength. A while back, at the peak, he was doing a radio talk-back program and his Mum rang in and said, "Daniel, you're looking tired. Look after yourself."

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. I remember your updates on the fires ...

Imagine if about 45% of your population were lighting fires or throwing fuel on them while the rest of the country fought the fires. That's how crazy we've been here since at least February.

[canetoad]

6. Good analogy

I read the whole Vox article and they are correct in criticising the half measures and incomplete closures that have prolonged the outbreak in the US. Your medical professionals and frontline staff must be absolutely exhausted and despairing; there is no end in sight - at least until Joe & Kamala step in, but still it will take time and resolve.

Friend of mine in the UK, a retired senior nurse, says Boris and his gang are almost as disorganised as the US.

[uponit7771]

7. K&R, and done without taking a rushed out vaccine

[Blue_true]

8. With the virus, "back to normal" can end fast.

Last edited Mon Dec 7, 2020, 08:11 PM - Edit history (1)

SARS-COV-2 is a 24-7, year around menace. Since it is cousin to something that there has never been a cure for, the Common Cold, it is rationally debatable whether it ever will be fully wiped out. There is no cure for the common cold, but people can manage their risk of getting one. SARS-COV-2 is not a Cold or the Flu, but hopefully it can be managed like the Flu, from a standpoint of a vaccine, although SAR-COV-2 may require one or two booster shots per year after the first shot, to give full year immunity.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

9. We did not have to be a horror show for the world.

[Blue_true]

10. That is true. Normally we lead the world out of a crisis like COVID19.

But we had an idiot at the wheel. That problem has been solved and will be official in about 45 days.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. We'll be rid of the lead covidiot but will still have lots of covidiots in office.

The death cult rages on, too. I don't know how we break through the disinformation bubble.

[Blue_true]

12. Yes, overcoming the republicans will be tough, but it can be done. nt

[Niagara]

13. KnR